Pride Guide 2002 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE A-13

Twenty-one years, twenty-one things you can do

by Earl Pike

and Tracy Jones

It's been 21 years since a virus of unknown origin first captured our attention, beginning an epidemic that changed our lives, our communities, our cultures, and history itself. Now officially the worst epidemic in recorded time, HIV continues to infect nearly 6,000 additional people every day around the world. Every 14 seconds.

The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities-flung far and wide, and incredibly diverse-embraced AIDS as a cause from the very first announcement of pneumocystis carinii pneumonia. Survival was at stake, but it was more than that. It had as much to do with the definition of "family" in marginalized communities as the threat of illness: we take care of each other.

Because AIDS is not merely about medicine, but about sexual orientation, race, gender, class, and a dozen other social realities as well, the obvious should be stated once again:

how to respond to the needs of LGBT students, the content of sexuality education, and whether to make condoms available to youth who are already sexually active.

Pass out condoms in your workplace (especially if you're working in entertainment or social services), or on your own, to friends and acquaintances.

Give financially. AIDS, LGBT, and other "social change" organizations across the

e

AIDS

TASKFORCE

OF GREATER CLEVELAND

Fighting homophobia helps in the fight against AIDS. Fighting racism helps in the fight against AIDS. Fighting for accessible health care for all helps in the fight against AIDS. Fighting discrimination against people with disabilities helps in the fight against AIDS.

So now, 21 years later, what can we do? Here are twenty-one suggestions, in no particular order not all specifically about HIV and AIDS, but about broader social ills that help fuel the epidemic as well.

Write to the governor. Currently Cleveland is threatened with a loss of HIV prevention dollars because of a change in the formula through which funds are allocated regionally. Letters and e-mails really do

matter.

Volunteer. There is so much to be done, and so many strong, effective agencies doing hard work on a daily basis--and every single one of them could use a hand. A few hours a month can make all the difference.

Don't permit society to "de-gay" the epidemic. Unfortunately, there are some sectors of society that would attempt to mobilize support for HIV and AIDS work by effacing gay identity within the epidemic, focusing only on heterosexual transmission and perinatal infection. Both demand our attention, but not at the expense of the LGBT communities.

Get involved in local governing boards. The Cuyahoga County Community Mental Health Board, and the Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services Board of Cuyahoga County, just to name two examples, make powerful and far-reaching decisions about how dollars for mental health and drug treatment are spent in the region.

Run for your local school board. School boards make profound decisions, such as

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Start an AIDS ministry. If your church, synagogue, mosque or religious center is open and welcoming to members of the LGBT community, talk to your spiritual leadership about starting an AIDS ministry.

Contact your local United Way, and encourage them to discontinue funding of agencies that discriminate against LGBT people, to make partner benefits available to their

member agencies through pooled insurance programs, and offer training and support to members agencies on the needs and realities of LGBT social service consumers.

Write to your federal representative. They need to hear that you support an increase in federal Ryan White funds, in housing funds for people with AIDS, and in federal prevention dollars.

Contact your state and municipal representatives. Just a little over two years ago, the Ohio Legislature voted to return, unspent, a million dollars to the Centers for Disease Control, rather than spend $50,000 of that money on comprehensive sexuality education that included condom instruction.

Write to the president. Politics is local, but the president-Democrat, Republican, or Independent--still matters. Tell him what you think. Remind him that in the American family, people with AIDS and people in the LGBT communities are the folks next door, and pay our taxes just like everyone else.

Write a letter to the editor. Surprisingly, letters to the editor can have quite an impact: they generate discussions, and allow people to see what their neighbors think. Don't just include the daily paper and the Gay People's Chronicle on your list, either: Neighborhood and college newspapers, and even organizational newsletters, get read.

Become an activist. We wouldn't have half of what we have today without the activist community. We won't have half of what we need tomorrow unless focused activism survives.

Support the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has be spearheading a valiant effort to amass $10 billion to mount a serious attack against three diseases that kill millions and millions of people every year around the world-and contributions are still several billion dollars short.

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Take advantage of clinical trials. AIDS clinical trials can offer an array of treatments not yet available at your local drug store, and the results of such research contribute to the growing body of knowledge about HIV care and management. Don't assume that if you're HIV negative you can't participate. Research often requires the ongoing involvement of people who are HIV negative as well.

Host a safer sex party. Wanna have some fun? Call the Taskforce; we'll supply the party favors.

Get tested. It's true: The earlier we can intervene in HIV treatment, the better the overall outcome. Enough said.

Ask for workplace education. Many workplaces are open to the idea of workplace seminars on AIDS or LGBT issues, but no one's ever asked.

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Encourage a broad definition of diversity in public policy debates and planning for social services. Too much of the time, “diversity" is understood to mean racial and ethnic diversity only-and ignores the diversity of sexual identities.

Run for office. There are a lot of talented, politically committed LGBT folks in Ohio. You can make a difference.

For help in implementing any of these suggestions, or information on HIV and AIDS programs and activities in Cleveland, contact the AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland at 216-621-0766.

Earl Pike is the executive director of the AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland; Tracey Jones is the associate executive director.

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